1.1.3 – Pressure groups and other influences
1.2.2 – Established political parties
At a time when Labour infighting was already intense, things were made worse on the eve of their conference when the general secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, warned that her union was finding it ‘harder and harder to justify their affiliation’ to the Labour Party because of the policy decisions taken by the party. Unite are the second-largest union affiliated to Labour, donating around £1.5m a year.
The Labour Party was founded by trade unions at the turn of the twentieth century, at a time when working class men were only partly enfranchised and MPs were not paid. As a result, Parliament was not seen by most as having the interests of the working class at heart, as MPs had to have certain amount of private wealth to support themselves in their role as MPs, or have the backing of someone very wealthy. Trade unions began to sponsor working class figures to stand for Parliament, which helped to form the nucleus of the Labour Party.
Trade unions are not simply part of the history of the Labour Party, they remain an essential feature of the party to this day. Aspiring parliamentary candidates need to seek the endorsement of trade unions in order to be selected, as do candidates for internal positions within the party. Unite have seats on Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), which gives it influence over the party’s strategic direction. In fact, more than a quarter of the seats on the NEC are reserved for trade union representatives. The previous general secretary of the Labour Party, Jennie Formby, had been a regional secretary of Unite, and was regarded as a key Corbyn ally. She left the post shortly after Starmer became party leader.
By threatening to disaffiliate from Labour, Unite are attempting to leverage a change in policy direction. This will give Starmer food for thought given the financial impact of losing Unite. At election time, trade unions may be expected to donate additional financial and strategic resources to Labour to support their campaign. However, in 2024 Unite did not do this – a sign of growing discontent and enmity between the two organisations and their leaders. In 2024, the impact of this was felt less harshly given the success Labour had in driving up financial support from businesses, but this is unlikely to continue in future. Whilst the loss of financial support may be damaging, being seen to kowtow to trade unions could lead to negative publicity from the conservative-leaning press, which Starmer will be keen to avoid.
This is a reminder of the influence that trade unions (who are similar to pressure groups) can have on political parties – particularly Labour. A breakdown in relations could damage the party financially. It may also – in time – lead to further industrial action (eg strikes) which can be used to portray the government in a negative light, thereby harming their standing in the eyes of the public. This was a problem for Labour in the 1970s, which contributed to 18 years in opposition from 1979 to 1997.